GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

Here is my Project 1 prelim.
For this design I wanted to try and use a piece of my art as the central focus of the site. For this one I broke the web page into thirds and placed my art along with my name on one side and the required information on the other two thirds.
For this website I wanted to create a very simple and sleek design, using a lot of white space. For the first idea I wanted to use a tree as the central imagery surrounded by white space. Trees are something I have used before as branding and felt that this fit with that as well as with the very sleek look I was going for.

I was inspired by the following websites. This first website inspired me to break up the page into thirds in my first design. The second website gave me the idea to use a piece of my art as the central imagery of the page.
https://geletina.com/
https://mathieulevesque.com/en

Hi Cedar,
Both your images are cool! especially the dog. Love it! I like your layout. Both designs look simple and easy to use. The idea of using shape to emphasize where users can go is a good idea too.

Hello, Cedar!

I like both of your designs...especially the version with the dog! It is clean and very user friendly. On the mobile version, I would replace the buttons (2-4) with a hamburger menu. This will free up space and all it to look even cleaner and easy to use.
Great job! I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like!

Hey Cedar! I really love both of your designs, its a tough one! Your dog painting is soooooo amazing holy-cow! and the contrasting white background gives it a simple nice feel to it, i really like it! But i also love the tree and the nice simple design with the text wrapping around it is also very attractive to the eyes. Your work with white space is a good choice and i think you're going in the right direction, have you considered somehow maybe meshing both ideas and putting both photos in the website and just having to scroll down? Just a thought Keep up the good work!

Hello Cedar!
I love how much white space you have. It feels easy to read, and it is easy to understand where the links are and what link leads to where. My favorite layout would be the second one; the webpage on the second one is more eye-catching. The picture helps lead the eye throughout the whole page! One thing I would add would be a color to go with the white background, maybe a color matching one of your pictures, it can help bring out your excellent layout design.

Hi, Cedar! I like your design a lot and I think the pictures you chose work well with the overall look of the website. I also like the layout. I do think it could use another color though. Otherwise, looks good!

An interesting thought, Cedar. I like the idea of having your artwork be the only color in your composition. As much fun as the dog one is (no one on the internet knows you're a dog!), I like the tree one better.

What attracts my eye to it is one little nifty piece of subtlety you pulled off: having the tree clip over your title. It's such a quiet bit of visual depth that you don't immediately notice it, but it's a critical bit of visual interest. Having your art be the only splash of color really drives the eye to it and then the eye notices the rest of your contest. You have a clean layout here that largely serves as a presentational space for your art and that's really working for you. You use boldness and size in your type to quickly establish a hierarchy and it really works. I like your serif type, it's not a more standard type, but it's warm and traditional enough. Your navigation is easy to find and hypothetically use.

Watch the vertical and horizontal centering of your button type within the individual buttons. I'd also recommend a bolder version of your serif type for your buttons. I don't know if you need both a hamburger menu and your buttons on both versions. Hamburger menus are typically used on mobile websites and buttons on computer websites. Watch your margins around your bodycopy and the tree, it get's a little tight on both your mobile and computer layouts. I'd also be tempted to ditch the sans-serif bodycopy and got with the serif type you're using everywhere else.

Good effort!

These both look really nice and clean, especially the one with the tree. It has a very natural movement of the eyes, and a great use of hierarchy. Can't wait to see it when it's live!
Great work!

Hi Cedar!

For a black and white approach, both submissions have an interesting contrast between the colorful image and the plainer text/background. This makes for a straightforward feel, but is composed in a way that feels welcoming. I think this is a format that will be very successful in whatever direction you decide to go. I look forward to seeing the progression here!

Hey Cedar!
I love your first design, I also used paintings of animals on my layouts lol, I think the picture is very dynamic compared to the picture in the second design. I think the only feedback I can think is to maybe move the paragraph under the picture for a better hierarchy so people visiting can know who's website they are visiting, and then browse your projects. Other than that they both look great!